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Experts Explain How to Grow Tomatoes Like a Pro

Warm weather is upon us, and whether you found a place to buy great seedlings or are sowing your own vegetables from scratch, this is the perfect moment to start your tomato garden—whether indoors or outdoors.

Growing your own tomatoes is a fulfilling activity with several benefits. First of all, providing for yourself and your family by growing your own food can ground you and connect you to Mother Nature and her sometimes unpredictable cycles.

But if that doesn’t do it for you, growing tomatoes is also fun and, more often than not, results in a bountiful harvest you can enjoy fresh or throughout the colder months. Use this beginner's guide to growing tomatoes for everything you need to get started.

How to Grow Tomatoes: A Quick Step-By-Step Guide

Growing your own tomatoes as a beginner is a “choose-your-own-adventure” kind of enterprise.

How you go about it will not only depend on the variety you plant, but also on factors such as the weather at your location, space availability, the time and effort you want to dedicate to your plants, and how much you want to challenge yourself.

However, if you can’t wait to start, here’s our five-step “Plant now, ask questions later” approach.

Plant after the last frost. Cold weather will kill young plants, so make sure night temperatures stay steady between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit before putting your seedlings outside. This should happen between April and mid-June depending on your location, but the best way to gauge a possible date is to check out historical weather data and use an old fashioned thermometer.
Provide six to eight hours of sun. Tomatoes are sturdy, sun-loving plants, but you’ll need to take the temperature into consideration. On hot days, eight hours of full-on sun could fry your plants, so if you live in a particularly warm area, make sure to choose a location where you can easily provide partial shade if necessary.
Use well-draining, nutrient-rich soil. Once your plants start fruiting, feed them with phosphorus- and potassium-rich fertilizers, as they will help produce more and larger fruit rather than foliage.
Water regularly. Outside plants will need deep watering two to three times a week, depending on where you live. Consider more frequent waterings at the peak of summer. Indoor plants will dry out more often, so make sure to check levels at least daily. Whatever you do, don’t let the soil fully dry up between waterings, as that may lead to several problems down the line. Consistent watering is key.
Support your plants with cages or stakes. Vine-like (indeterminate) tomato plants grow fast and need support, so don’t wait until it’s a problem. Install a support system right away and tie vines as they grow, as the plant won’t hold on by itself.

Seeds, Seedlings, or Grafts? The Easiest Way to Plant Tomatoes

Growing tomatoes from seeds takes the longest, followed by planting seedlings (minimally developed plants), and grafts (small cuttings with leaves but no flowers).

For beginners, the easiest way to grow tomatoes is to use seedlings. Since these are baby plants, you’ll be able to skip the sowing of seeds and cut a month or two from the entire tomato growing process.

You can buy seedlings online, at your local plant nursery, or at a big box store, but keep in mind that you probably won’t find the same variety range you would if you were starting from seeds. Seedlings are also more expensive, so consider this in your calculations if you plan to plant a large area.

If you have experience sowing seeds and you already have the necessary tools and materials, then starting from scratch is a great alternative. Just calculate the start of the sowing process four to six weeks before the first frost of fall.

Cherry tomatoes are one of the easier varieties of tomatoes to grow in pots.

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When to Plant Tomatoes

Regardless of the approach you use, you want to plant tomatoes when there’s no risk of frost at night, as the temperature plunge will surely kill your plants—especially when they’re small.

Barbara Kline, a master gardener at Penn State University’s Extension Program, says that climate change is making it harder and harder to gauge the right time to plant or put out your tomato plants, as the weather has become increasingly more erratic.

The sweet spot is planting when the temperature doesn’t dip below 50 degrees Fahrenheit at night, which should happen between April and June, depending on your location. A Pittsburgh resident, Kline says she never puts her tomatoes out before the end of May. But folks in the South may find that tomato-planting sweet spot as early as the first week of April, while gardeners on the West Coast may be looking to put their plants in the ground around early May.

Unfortunately, there’s no set safe planting date, so your best bet is to use historical weather data for your location as a benchmark and check the temperature with your phone or an old-fashioned thermometer a couple of nights before planting.

When in doubt, Kline encourages home gardeners to reach out to their county’s master gardener extension program for guidance.

Types of Tomato Plants and Which Kind You Should Grow

The Farmer’s Almanac says there are at least 100,000 tomato varieties out there, each encompassing a specific set of attributes, including the type of plant and fruit, yield, and pest and disease resistance.

To choose what to plant, first ask yourself what you want to do with your tomatoes. If you want to eat them fresh in salads, a cherry tomato variety or beefsteak tomatoes could be a good fit. If you’re planning to can, sauce, or make jams, Roma and San Marzano tomatoes are excellent choices.

All of these varieties have different specifications regarding when to plant them, how long it takes for plants to bear fruit, and how long tomatoes should stay on the vine before harvesting.

Kline recommends checking out the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Plant Hardening Map, which divides the entire continental U.S., plus Hawai'i and Puerto Rico, into specific areas depending on their average temperature. When you buy seeds or seedlings, you should be able to learn what planting zone is best for it, so choose one that matches your location for the best results.

Once you figure out what you want to do with your tomatoes, think about how much space and time you want to give them. Tomato plants come in two formats—determinate and indeterminate.

What Are Low-Maintenance or Determinate Tomato Plants?

Determinate tomato plants are basically bushes, and they’re compact and easy to tend to. This type of plant is an excellent choice for growing indoors, and you can even hang it from planters.

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, most paste/sauce tomato varieties grow on determinate plants.

What Are High-Maintenance or Indeterminate Tomato Plants?

On the other hand, indeterminate tomato plants are what most people imagine when they think of a tomato plant, also known as the plant on which Don Corleone falls dead in The Godfather: Part I.

These are fast-growing, large plants that take up a significant amount of space and become top-heavy relatively easily, which is why they require robust support systems. They tend to grow larger tomatoes and bear more fruit, but because they grow so much, so fast, they require quite a lot of work.

Pruning is crucial with viney indeterminate tomato plants, as you want them to have proper air flow and homogeneous sun exposure for proper fruit ripening. You also want them to use their energy efficiently, meaning growing fruit—not foliage.

With indeterminate plants, you’ll also need to constantly monitor their growth and tie them to their respective supports, as they won’t do that themselves.

How to Plant Tomatoes Outdoors

If you’re planting your tomatoes outdoors, make sure to do it during an overcast day or in the evening—transferring seedlings to their final location is stressful, so you don’t want to add long hours of direct sunlight to the mix.

When it comes to location, choose a spot with ample daylight that also allows for partial shade to avoid prolonged exposure to direct sunlight. If there’s no place like that in your garden, you can always opt for removable shade sails or a parasol.

Depending on the variety, consider spacing plants anywhere between 18 to 36 inches apart.

Remove the leaves from the bottom half of the plant and dig holes deep enough so that the lower leaves are above the soil. Roots will grow from the stem, providing a better grip for the plant to stay in place. If you have any leggy seedlings, plant the main stalk horizontally so that only the foliage stays above ground.

Combine dirt with compost and some slow-release nitrogen-rich fertilizer to help your seedling grow strong. Use some extra compost or dirt in the holes to protect the roots—you don’t want them to come into direct contact with the fertilizer, as this can damage them.

Don’t wait until your tomatoes are grown to install their support system—do it right away.

How to Grow Tomatoes in Pots

You can grow tomatoes in pots, both outdoors and indoors. Growing conditions should be kept pretty much the same whether the plant is potted or in the ground, but there are certain considerations to keep in mind to make your life easier.

If you plan to keep your pots indoors, we recommend a determinate tomato plant, as they won’t take up much space and are easy to manage. These varieties will grow smaller fruit (think cherry tomatoes) and are usually used for sauces and preserves.

When deciding what to plant more specifically, Kline says to go for a variety that’s best grown in pots—just follow the guidance from a nursery catalog or the seed packet. The master gardener personally recommends dwarf plants, which have been the only tomato plants in her garden for years. She explains that these hybrids are only between four and five feet tall, but grow cherry and beekstake tomatoes and everything in between.

However, whether you go for a dwarf plant or a regular indeterminate one, you’ll need big pots (think around 15 inches or a five-gallon bucket) as tomatoes tend to develop big root systems.

Support systems are also not optional, as even if your plant doesn’t get too large, it can easily get top-heavy and topple over. Along with a growing cage or a stake, you might need to find a proper spot for your plants, ideally next to something sturdy to rest against, such as a wall or a pillar.

Another consideration with potted plants is that you’ll need to water them more frequently, often daily or even twice a day, depending on the temperature.

How Often to Water Tomato Plants

Tomatoes like constant moisture, so don’t allow the soil to dry completely. Consistency is key when watering tomatoes, as variations in moisture can result in problems such as blossom end rot.

Give tomatoes planted in the ground a deep watering once or twice a week in the morning. This will give the roots enough time to drink before temperatures rise and the moisture evaporates. Keep the water close to the soil and avoid getting leaves wet to prevent them from rotting.

Pro watering tip #1. Dig six-inch deep holes in the ground between plants and place containers with draining holes. Pour the water into them to allow more direct access to the roots.
Pro watering tip #2. On hot days, place rocks on top of the soil after watering. This will keep moisture in the ground and prevent it from evaporating before the soil can absorb it.

Tomatoes growing in pots require more frequent watering, as they tend to dry out more quickly than those grown in the ground. Water thoroughly once a day, and twice on hotter days. If you’re growing tomatoes indoors, place something like a big plate or tray under their pots to catch the water as it drains out.

Best Soil for Tomato Plants

Tomatoes like a well-draining, nutrient-rich soil with a slightly acidic pH (ranging from 6.2 to 6.8). Oklahoma State University’s tomato growing guide says home gardeners can give their soil a boost by adding rotted manure, leaf mold, peat moss, or other organic materials.

How to Fertilize Tomatoes for Faster Growth

To get you started, Kline suggests a 3:3:3 nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (NPK) composition. A balanced nutrient intake will help the plant grow to a good size and get ready to bear fruit. However, once the plant is big enough, the master gardener recommends a higher phosphorus dosage.

“That middle number, the P—that needs to be a little bit higher, like a 2:4:3,” she explains.

The switch is important, as nitrogen-rich fertilizer is used to grow grass and foliage in general, while higher phosphorus and potassium proportions will help your plant grow fruit, not leaves.

How to Prune Tomato Plants

First of all, get rid of the suckers. Tomato plants should have one main stalk and two to three main stems—the rest is just pulling energy and nutrients away from fruit production.

Wait until your plant is dry. Plants, in general, are more fragile when wet, and working on them when foliage is wet increases the risk of damaging them and spreading disease.
Identify suckers and pinch them off. Remove stems between the branches and the main stalk.
Optional: Use gardening shears on thick suckers. Practice good gardening hygiene by spraying your shears with hydrogen peroxide at the beginning of your session and whenever you switch from one plant to another.

Removing suckers will help keep your tomato plant’s size in check and improve airflow and sunlight exposure. It’ll also make harvesting easier and prevent the spread of bacterial or fungal infections.

While you’re at it, remove any leaves or fruit growing at the bottom of the stalk. Due to their proximity to the ground, bottom leaves are at a higher risk of rot, and fruit that manages to grow there will eventually drop to the ground, where it will either rot due to direct contact with moisture or become insect grub. Removing them will redirect precious energy to growing fruit, as well as protecting the plant from pests.

How to Prevent Pests in Tomato Plants

When pruning your plants, be sure to monitor for the presence of bugs and pests.

Check the undersides of leaves, remove any insects that may be lurking, and use your fingers to break any eggs. Catching an infestation early increases your chances of completely eliminating it.

Assess the situation accordingly and apply natural or chemical pesticides as needed. Always check labels and take all necessary precautions to ensure safety.

How and When to Harvest Tomatoes

Figuring out when your tomatoes are just right to harvest is probably the hardest part about growing your own fruit. And the truth is that there is not one way to go about it, as signs of ripeness will vary greatly depending on the variety you’re growing.

As a general guide, Kline recommends this article by fellow PennState Extension master gardener Diane Diffenderfer on the different ripening stages of tomatoes. Understanding the process might make it easier to identify the perfect moment to cut your tomatoes off the vine.

The tried-and-true method you can apply to most types of tomatoes is checking for consistency—in general, you want your fruit to be firm but give slightly when you squeeze it. What exactly “firm” means, and how much you should expect your tomato to give, will depend on personal preference.

Keep in mind that tomatoes that have already started to take color will continue to do so off the vine, so if your gauge is a little off on the unripe side of things, you can always wait a few days for your tomatoes to be perfect.

You can also gauge ripeness by color, but this can become quite complicated, especially with varieties that have a wide range of possible shades, like heirloom tomatoes. Your best bet is to check your seeds’ packet or do some research online to see what you should look out for.

Then again, a little trial and error will go a long way when it comes to knowing your own crop.

How to Ripen Tomatoes

Once tomatoes reach their first flush, they begin producing ethylene gas, which triggers the ripening process. At that point, they’re not getting much from the plant, so you can cut them off the vine and let them continue ripening in your kitchen.

Tomatoes won’t stop producing ethylene gas, but if you want to move things along a bit faster, you can always use science to your advantage.

The Royal Horticultural Society suggests putting your unripe tomatoes in a drawer or a paper bag along with a banana—the ethylene gas secreted by the yellow fruit will help your tomatoes ripen faster. Just make sure to check on them at least once or twice a day, or you might find you have the world’s most disgusting smoothie brewing in your kitchen.

Eat, Share, or Preserve Your Tomatoes

Towards the end of the season, as temperatures rise and your tomato plants are bigger and stronger, it’s possible that you’ll be producing a lot more fruit than you’ll know what to do with.

When that happens, it’s a good idea to have a plan so that no food goes to waste.

Share the joy. Recruit family, friends, and neighbors to receive Mother Nature’s bounty. Have them prepare containers they can bring to your place and harvest the fruit themselves, or prep boxes or buckets yourself. Keep in mind that tomatoes can be fragile and spoil easily under the weight of more fruit, so don’t let them sit for days before someone comes to pick them up.

Preserve the fruit. Natural tomato sauce and jam are easy to make and hold exceptionally well throughout the cold months—whether canned or frozen. Just make sure to follow a good tutorial on how to preserve the fruit, as you don’t want to find mold growing on it in the middle of winter.

Say Goodbye to Your Tomato Plant

After the summer, when temperatures start to drop, you’ll notice you won’t harvest as many tomatoes, and with the arrival of the first frost, the plants will inevitably die. Wait until this happens to remove the remains of your tomato garden.

If you plan to plant tomatoes again next year, consider crop rotation, as it will help keep the soil healthy and productive. If you dealt with pests, research the correct way to treat your soil for the next season, and consider that you may need to discard it if diseases like blight affected your garden this year.

10 Common Tomato Growing Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Leaf curling. It’s a stress signal, but the good news is that it’s reversible, and as soon as conditions improve, the leaves should return to normal.

Probable cause: Underwatering; excess heat or sunlight.
How to fix leaf curling: Check for water levels using a probe. Tomato plants need constant moisture at the root level, so make sure the soil is not completely dry. If that doesn’t work, try providing some shade to help with high temperatures.

Sunscald. These white soft patches are the equivalent of a sunburn on your tomatoes. The skin won’t recover, but that doesn’t render the fruit inedible.

Probable cause: High temperatures and too much sunlight.
How to fix sunscald: Assess how much shade and protection your tomatoes are receiving. If leaves are sparse and the fruit is mostly uncovered, this might be due to a lack of, or a low level of, nitrogen in the soil, or excessive pruning. Cull the pruning and provide some coverage to your plant.

Blossom end rot. This is a common issue that manifests a dark, sunken spot at the bottom of your fruit. Tomatoes that present symptoms are inedible, but that doesn’t mean that your future crop is ruined—it looks bad, but it’s easy to fix.

Probable cause: Lack of calcium or irregular watering.
How to fix blossom end rot: Kline says most people go straight to using calcium supplements, such as Epsom salts and crushed eggshells. But that’s not going to work, she says. First, adjust your watering schedule to keep the soil consistently well-hydrated. Letting dirt completely dry between waterings hinders the plant’s ability to absorb calcium in the soil, causing blossom end rot. Deal with affected fruit by removing it immediately from the plant and discarding it.

Cracked or split fruit. The tomato equivalent of a stretch mark, this happens when the fruit's skin can’t keep up with internal growth.

Probable cause: Irregular watering. When you thoroughly water your plant after letting it dry completely, it may absorb the moisture and rapidly direct it toward growing fruit. The growth spurt might be too much for the tomato's skin, which will give way and crack.
How to fix cracked tomato skin: Adjust your watering schedule and ensure the soil is consistently well-hydrated.

Yellow leaves. This is a tricky one, as yellow leaves are a general sign of stress and can signify a whole lot of things. First, make sure there are no other symptoms, such as pests or a sudden weather change.

Probable cause: If other symptoms are absent, malnutrition.
How to fix yellow leaves on tomato plants: After a thorough assessment, make sure there are no other factors to address, such as overly damp soil or environmental stressors like sudden changes in temperature or wind. If everything looks good, you can try a nitrogen-rich feed.

Leggy plant. Long stems with no leaves or fruit can make your plant unruly and cause stems to crack.

Probable cause: Not enough sunlight. In general, plants become leggy to reach for sunlight.
How to fix leggy tomato plants: If you’re dealing with an indeterminate plant, you might want to step up the pruning to curb the shade. While you’re at it, make sure to provide support for your plant’s legs or cut them off altogether if they’re not bearing fruit or are not a main stem. If you potted your plants, you may want to find a new location for them that ensures more hours of sunlight.

Broken stems. Indeterminate plants grow rapidly, and their stems are not thick enough to support weight.

Probable cause: Not enough support
How to fix broken stems in a tomato plant: Whether that’s a stake, a cage, or a lattice against a wall, you have to give your plant a sturdy way to keep upright. Also, remember that tomatoes are not vines per se, so they won’t hold on to stakes by themselves—you have to tie them up yourself as they grow.

Rapidly spreading disease and pests. You saw a bug on one of your plants, and a few days later, they’re spread all over your orchard.

Probable cause: Overcrowding.
How to fix rapidly spreading disease and pests in tomato plants: First, deal with whatever pest or disease is affecting your plants. Once the malice is eradicated, you can think of ways to prevent it from happening again. Depending on the size of your plants, if you planted your tomatoes in the ground, you might be able to replant them with a bit more space between them. If that’s not an option, you can play around with netting to see if you can somewhat isolate your plants.

Aphids. These tiny bugs come in different colors and should not be mistaken for harmless pollinators. They feed off the plant’s sap and starve and kill it if gone unchecked. Before you spring into action, check your plant thoroughly, especially under the leaves—if you find white eggs there, you’re dealing with your classic garden aphids.

Probable cause: Lack of predators, overcrowding.
How to fix an aphid infestation on tomato plants: Once the aphid infestation is confirmed, try to isolate the affected plants if you can, as that will prevent an even larger problem. Natural solutions to aphids include introducing predators, such as ladybugs (which you can buy as larvae for this exact purpose), or applying a neem oil-based natural pesticide. You can find several recipes online that require only neem oil, water, and dish soap. The key to applying this pesticide is to completely soak the plant, especially under the leaves, where aphids lay their eggs. If possible, dunking your plant in the mix (down to the point where the main stem meets the soil) can ensure proper application. Otherwise, use an atomizer sprayer and repeat the process as needed.

Lots of flowers, not enough fruit. Your plant has blossoms galore, but few of those actually turn into fruit.

Probable cause: Excessive heat, pollen might be dried up.
How to prevent tomato flowers from dropping: If you’re experiencing a particularly hot and dry summer, it’s possible your tomato plants are reacting to the stressful environment by dropping flowers. Adjust your watering schedule to provide a constant deep moisture supply, and consider either covering or relocating your plants to decrease sunlight exposure and temperature during peak sun hours.
If the problem persists, Kline explains that the pollen inside the flower may have dried up, making it hard for the plant to self-pollinate.
“Just shake the plant gently—not vigorously,” she says, “Tap on the tomato plant flower because then you're shaking the pollen. That will help them pollinate.”

FAQs

How long do tomatoes take to grow?

Depends on the variety—cherry tomatoes will take around 50 to 60 days, while larger varieties can take between 60 and 85 days from the moment you transplant seedlings into their final home.

Consider around a month for plant growth, about two and a half months for fruit formation, and an extra 20 to 25 days for ripening. Consider that once fruit gets its first blush, it’ll continue to ripen when harvested.

Do tomatoes need full sun?

Tomatoes need a lot of sunshine hours during the day, with most experts recommending anywhere between six and eight hours. However, you’ll need to consider temperature, as tomato plants can suffer from heat stress, which can prevent ripening, flowering, and even pollination.

At the peak of summer—or during particularly hot days—consider providing some light shade for your plants during the hottest hours of the day. This is especially important if fruit is growing, as the skin can be damaged by the sun.

Can you grow tomatoes from store-bought seeds?

You can. However, sowing seeds from scratch is its own process, and if you’re a beginner, you might be better off starting your tomato garden from seedlings.

Why are my tomatoes not ripening?

It might be a temperature problem. Kline says many tomatoes don't ripen at temperatures above 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The good news is that this is easily fixable.

“You don't need sunlight to make the tomatoes ripen after a certain point,” she says.

If your fruit already has a flush but isn’t ripening anymore, you can cut it off the plant and let it continue ripening indoors at a lower temperature. Once they start, tomatoes won’t stop producing ethylene gas, which is responsible for the fruit’s maturation process, so they’ll continue ripening until they’re ready for eating.

Why don’t my tomatoes look like those on the packet?

Kline says this is one of the most recurrent questions she gets during her gardening presentations, and the answer is simple: pollinators.

Tomatoes are self-pollinating plants, meaning they don’t actually need the help of bees and other flying critters to fertilize their flowers and start producing fruit. But if you have more than one variety planted in your garden, that doesn’t mean pollinators may not make things interesting and cross-breed your tomato plants for you.

If you want to make absolutely sure you only get the kind of tomato you planted, your best bet is to isolate your plants—covering them with some netting to prevent cross-pollination might be a good idea. You can also just try planting a single tomato variety, but if your neighbor is a tomato lover as well, things can get really complicated, really fast.